Phil Rogers' Power Rankings

Phil Rogers, national baseball reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

1. Cubs (1): With a playoff cushion of 11 games -- the distance between them and the wild-card runner-up, St. Louis -- it will probably only be a couple more weeks before Lou Piniella shuffles his rotation to get guys lined up for the postseason. He could face a dilemma with his ace, Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano's second-half ERA of 5.25 is the highest in the rotation, behind Rich Harden (1.66), Ryan Dempster (2.25), Ted Lilly (3.34) and Jason Marquis (4.71). Can he afford to keep Zambrano in the No. 1 spot? That answer may depend on how Zambrano pitches in his first couple of starts after being skipped on Sunday.

2. Rays (2): Troy Percival is getting ready to return but wasn't really missed. Dan Wheeler has excelled as an interim closer, converting six of eight save chances while Percival was out with a knee injury.

3. Angels (3): Francisco Rodriguez has picked up the pace once again, notching six saves in an 11-game stretch give him 53 and keep him on pace to shatter Bobby Thigpen's single-season record of 57. There's no way the Angels can let him leave after this season, but keeping him will stretch the budget.

4. Red Sox (8): Daisuke Matsuzaka has made the adjustment to American baseball. He has a 3.10 ERA since the All-Star break, compared with the 5.19 mark he had in the second half of his first season in Boston. He blew away the White Sox on Friday night to raise his record to 16-2.

5. Brewers (6): CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets are no longer the only thing to like about the Milwaukee rotation. With Dave Bush getting on a roll, the Brew Crew has a 3.22 ERA in the second half, the best in the majors.

7. Mets (7): This is an important week. Jerry Manuel's team goes to Milwaukee for three and hosts Philadelphia for three. Then it has no one except Washington and Atlanta for two weeks.

8. Twins (5): The addition of Eddie Guardado was a good one, but the bullpen keeps losing -- four decisions in a row since Aug. 24 and a 2-8 record in August. There's only one more stop on the 14-game road trip.

9. Indians (15): Since July 10, they've been the best team in the AL Central. Their 28-16 record in that stretch is 21/2 games better than Minnesota and five better than the White Sox.

10. Phillies (10): Pat Burrell needs to get going. As valuable as any player in the first half, he hit .188 with only four home runs in August.

11. Cardinals (12): The playoff race is getting away from them, but at least St. Louis fans can enjoy a potentially great batting race between Albert Pujols (.364) and Chipper Jones (.359).

12. Blue Jays (9): Ownership faces a tough decision on GM J.P. Ricciardi after the season. He has spent a lot of money without building a contender around Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett.

13. Astros (18): GM Ed Wade made a good decision to keep Brian Moehler off the free-agent market. The re-signing of Darin Erstad mostly reflected how disappointing Michael Bourn has been since coming from Philadelphia in the Brad Lidge deal.

14. Yankees (13): Alex Rodriguez is once again Public Enemy No. 1 with Yankees fans. He's the ultimate tease -- too great to let walk away but not gritty enough to lift the team around him. He hasn't carried a team in big games since 2000, when he helped Seattle advance to the ALCS.

15. Diamondbacks (11): These guys look more and more like the Cubs' first-round playoff opponent. Their underachieving lineup has produced a 42-50 record since May 20, but their top-heavy starting rotation -- Brandon Webb, Randy Johnson and Dan Haren -- is ideally suited for a best-of-five series.

17. Dodgers (14): Clayton Kershaw has disappointed in his first crack at the big leagues. He is likely to follow Chad Billingsley and Derek Lowe when Los Angeles hosts Arizona this weekend, its last head-to-head crack at the division leaders.

18. Tigers (17): Lefty Nate Robertson is Detroit's latest salary problem. Manager Jim Leyland moved him to the bullpen a week ago and he's owed $17 million over the next two seasons. He joins Gary Sheffield, Dontrelle Willis and the injured Jeremy Bonderman on a list of major questions.

19. Rangers (20): Long reliever Josh Rupe is leading the AL in bullpen innings. That couldn't happen if the starting rotation wasn't so shaky.

20. Rockies (22): They've won nine of 13 and aren't willing to concede that they're out of the tepid NL West race at six games back. It helps that they have six games left with the Diamondbacks, including the last three of the season, and three against the Dodgers.

21. Orioles (19): The Orioles' starting pitchers have made it through five innings only six times in the last 14 games.

22. Reds (23): Dusty Baker, who in other places pushed pitchers to their breaking points, is one of the eight major-league managers who haven't had a starter throw 120 pitches in a game this season. The leader in that category is Milwaukee's Ned Yost, who has had seven 120-pitch starts.

23. Athletics (26): Keep an eye on outfielder Aaron Cunningham. The best young hitter in the White Sox system when he was traded for Danny Richar midway through 2007, Cunningham has hit .329 with 17 homers and 15 stolen bases between Double A and Triple A before being called up Saturday.

24. Giants (21): Tim Lincecum (15-3, 2.43 ERA) is taking aim at Brandon Webb in the NL Cy Young Award chase. He has won his last three starts, holding Atlanta, San Diego and Colorado to two runs in 231/3 innings.

25. Braves (25): Can pitching coach Roger McDowell survive a collapse that has seen Atlanta deliver the worst pitching in the majors since the All-Star break? Leo Mazzone is working as a broadcaster and would probably come back in a heartbeat.